King Charles Coast Path - Ashington to Whitley Bay (★★★☆☆)

The opening of the Northumberland Line in late 2024 opened up train access to Ashington - and in early 2025 I made use of this new train link to walk from Ashington to Alnmouth along the Northumberland Coast. 

Today I am repeating that same train journey to Ashington, but on this occasion I will be heading south from Newbiggin-by-the-Sea - and walking down to Whitley Bay.

Here I plan to stay over, and then head down to Tynemouth - before cutting inland along the Tyne, to pick up the furthest end of Hadrian's Wall Path, and then follow this through to Newcastle.

And so today - after a train ride, and a walk out from Ashington, I arrive at the seaside at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea (see the previous walk from Ashington to Alnmouth to get more information on this walk out from Ashington to Newbiggin-by-the-Sea).

Arriving at the seaside

I am a big fan of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea - which contrasts heavily with the more expensive, but busier, Whitley Bay at the end of my day's walking.

As it is, everyone is out and about as I walk through Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, but after I head through the busy section near the centre of town, things quieten down as I come up to Spital Point.

The beach at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea

From Spital Point the path follows a quiet route along the dunes, before heading through the centre of a holiday park - after which we turn inland, as we seek out a bridge across the River Wansbeck. 

I'm generally not a big fan of these inland diversions, which can add quite a lot of distance to a coastal walk in exchange for little pleasure, but this one is nice - and it is a pleasant trip in and then back out, after which we find ourselves arriving at the village of Cambois.

This village does have some fancy looking houses - more in the style you see in national parks than in the style typical for this area - and here we begin our first rural stretch of coastline.

The beach here stretches all the way from Cambois down to North Blyth, but for this section I decide to walk on the dunes and enjoy the views out across the beach, rather than head down and walk along the busier beach below.

But as we continue to head down the coast towards North Blyth, the scene is not an entirely rural one - for the silos used by the aluminium smelter (that used to operate in Blyth) dominate the view ahead - giving an industrial vibe to proceedings.

The smelter itself closed in 2012, but these silos remain - as do all the rail links - and from what I can tell the silos are still in use - but not with anywhere near the same level of activity.

The dunes at the beach

The view towards Port of Blyth (as I say, slightly industrial looking)

Despite the industrial views ahead, it is still a nice walk along this stretch - and in all honesty the industry doesn't detract too much from the setting. But eventually we do see a turn for the worst when this path comes to a halt, and when it is time to head inland.

Although we are now very close to Blyth there is no bridge or ferry - and so instead of continuing up half a mile or so along the coast and then crossing into Blyth, we must instead head 1 mile along the edge of an industrial park, another mile to the A189 bridge (over the River Blyth), another mile past another industrial park, before completing a final mile to arrive at the Port of Blyth.

This means four miles of walking to reach a point half a mile in front of me, and indeed none of this walking provides any sort of joy - and is best forgotten to the annuls of time.

But with the last hour and a half of walking already forgotten, I arrive the the Port of Blyth (on the correct side of the River Blyth) - and ready for my onward journey.

According to the locals, there have been pushes to get some sort of bridge or ferry going - but with the other side of the river mostly being pretty beaches, rather than any economical centre, there isn't much desire to get this done. And indeed any bridge will need to open to accommodate the bigger boats making use of the port, which adds to the cost.

All this is, however, bad news for the walker who wants to do every section of the coast path - and has to suffer through this inland diversion.

One of the big boats at Port of Blyth (next to the orange silos from before)

The walk alongside Blyth Harbor, is a really nice one - along a wooden pier of sorts - before we once again have to track inland to get around the South Harbor - although on this occasion the inland diversion heads through a busy, but attractive, park.

This diversion I don't mind so much, and it's not too long before we find ourselves popping out at South Beach, with about two miles of beach lying ahead on our way down to Seaton Sluice.

The beach is busy at each end, but very quiet in the middle

Blyth Wind Farm

This stretch of beach is very similar to the stretch between Cresswell and Amble further north - and goes a long way to restoring my faith in this section of coastland. And indeed without the diversion at Blyth, this would be a lovely coastal walk.

When we do eventually reach Seaton Sluice - and say goodbye to this beach - my faith continues to be restored as the slightly ugly sounding Seaton Sluice proves to be a pretty little fishing village (albeit with some slightly ugly housing on the far side).

Approaching Seaton Sluice from the beach

From here we cut up onto the mound above the beach - and take a walk around a small protected fishing harbor - which we are able to walk all the way around. And here I also find some benches, and so I take a little rest overlooking this pretty little port.

Heading round the port

Nicely refreshed I continue on - and leaving this little port behind, head into the old part of town. From here the path heads onwards along a road past Collywell Bay - and then after a while a path appears on the left, which takes us back off this road, and out to Crag Point.

Looking towards Seaton Sluice across Collywell Bay

Here we are back into proper countryside - and after passing Crag Point we continue on down the coast - initially heading past a caravan park - but then getting back into nicer countryside, on the way down to Curry Point - where a lighthouse sits on St Mary's Island.

Looking out towards Curry's Point and St Mary's Island

St Mary's Island

When the tide is right (like it is now) you can walk across to the island - and while it is no St Michael's Mount - it is a particularly popular option today, with a steady stream of people heading over to the island.

Historically there was a church on this island (St Mary's), but no remains of this exist today - and instead the main site of interest is the lighthouse - which was built in 1898, and which remained in used until 1984. 

The main attraction on offer here is the opportunity to climb up the lighthouse, and at the time of writing this could be done for a fee of £6 for an adult, or £3 for a child.

With it being so busy I'm not going to go to all the hassle of navigating those crowds - although I imagine the views are pretty good - and instead I sit on a bench and am content to admire the lighthouse from the mainland. 

With this admiration complete, I head on along the coast, and soon find myself able to drop down to the beach at Whitley Sands - which I follow round to Whitley Bay.

Whitley Bay

Whitley Bay is a posh sort of place - and clearly this is where the Newcastle County Council spends the entirety of it's budget, because the facilities are superb. Indeed, there has been a major regeneration scheme going on here, which initially sank £36m into the area, and which continues to spend money to improve the area.

Having been a popular Victorian seaside resort, the town suffered from a decline in tourism in the 1980s as better options for travel opened up abroad - but although it will never regain that status as a major holiday destination, you can see the appeal in living here and working in Newcastle.

The result is somewhere that is undoubtedly a fantastic place to live, where you can live by the sea, cycle, walk, swim, surf or just take in the scenery - whilst being a twenty minute Metro ride into Newcastle - and whilst retaining the same vibe as Scarborough or Whitby.

But in the here and now for me today, it is merely a very expensive place to stay for the night, ahead of tomorrow's trip further down the coast, and into Newcastle.

Total Distance: 19.1 miles (16.4 miles on the coast path)

Total Ascent: 797 feet (761 on the coast path)

Enjoyment Rating : ⭐⭐⭐ ★ ★ / 5 (it lost a star for the section heading round Blyth)

Click to see the writeup for the next section of coast, from Whitley Bay to Sunderland.

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 81 and 88 OS Landranger maps - while there is also a Northumberland Coast Path guidebook which covers Berwick-Upon-Tweed down to Newcastle as well as providing OS mapping (links redirect to Amazon). The route is in general well way-marked.